Fortidia UK supports three prominent franchise brands within the shipping and logistics sector: MBE UK, Pack & Send UK, and World Options UK. Each brand operates its own distinct technology stack, resulting in a rich and intricate IT landscape. This infrastructure is critical, underpinning mission-critical shipping solutions for thousands of customers and franchise partners across the UK.
Role Purpose
The IT Business Partner & Governance Lead serves as the primary interface between our UK franchise partners, key business stakeholders, and the regional IT organisation. This pivotal role is responsible for translating evolving business requirements into actionable technology initiatives. A core focus will be championing disciplined IT governance across the UK operations and ensuring that every technology investment delivers tangible, measurable benefits that positively impact revenue, margin, and EBITDA.
Key Responsibilities
* Requirements Management:
* Lead the collection, analysis, and prioritisation of functional and non-functional requirements across the three UK business units.
* Translate approved requirements into clear user stories, detailed acceptance criteria, and well-defined delivery plans within Jira/Confluence.
* Portfolio & Road-map Planning:
* Build and maintain a consolidated UK IT demand portfolio, strategically balancing new initiatives, essential technical debt reduction, and business-as-usual (BAU) activities.
* Facilitate quarterly portfolio prioritisation workshops with UK senior leadership, ensuring alignment with commercial objectives and demonstrating clear ROI.
* Governance & Quality Assurance:
* Define, implement, and embed robust standards for change management, release management, testing protocols, documentation, and security practices across the heterogeneous UK platforms.
* Chair Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings, rigorously tracking compliance metrics and driving necessary remediation actions.
* Service & Support Excellence:
* Lead the continuous improvement programme for the Help Desk function in close partnership with the UK IT Manager.
* Establish and monitor effective Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Operational Level Agreements (OLAs), curate a comprehensive knowledge base, measure user satisfaction (CSAT, NPS), and drive thorough incident root-cause analysis.
* Stakeholder Engagement & Communication:
* Act as a trusted advisor and key liaison for UK franchise partners, country management, and functional leads.
* Produce clear, data-driven status reports and executive dashboards tailored for the UK leadership team.
* Financial & Outcome Focus:
* Develop compelling ROI models for proposed technology initiatives; diligently track benefits realisation (e.g., revenue uplift, cost avoidance, contribution to EBITDA).
* Champion a culture of value delivery and agile experimentation within the UK context.
* Team Leadership & Collaboration:
* Mentor Help Desk analysts and junior business analysts within the UK team.
* Coordinate effectively with third-party developers, architects, and product owners supporting the UK operations.
Key Relationships
* VP of IT – EMEA
* UK Country Manager
* UK IT Manager & Help Desk Team
* Development partners (internal & external) supporting UK systems
* UK Franchise partners & store owners
Skills & Experience
* Proven track record of 7+ years in IT business analysis, product ownership, or IT governance roles, ideally within multi-site or franchise organisations operating in the UK.
* Demonstrable success in managing technology initiatives within complex, multi-platform environments (experience in e-commerce, shipping, or logistics is highly advantageous).
* Strong practical knowledge of Agile/Scrum methodologies, effective backlog management, proficient use of Jira/Confluence, understanding of API concepts, and awareness of UX/UI best practices.
* Hands-on experience establishing and embedding IT governance frameworks (including release, testing, and security) within an organisation.
* Excellent stakeholder management, facilitation, and communication skills, comfortable interacting at all levels within a UK business structure.
* Highly analytical mindset with a strong ability to clearly link technology initiatives to key commercial KPIs (e.g., sales performance, margin improvement, EBITDA contribution).
Education & Certifications
* Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, or a related field.
* Desirable: Relevant certifications such as Agile/Scrum (e.g., PSM, CSM), ITIL, Prince2, security certifications (e.g., CISSP), or ISO 27001 awareness.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
* Project delivery performance (on-time/on-budget %)
* CSAT/NPS for franchise technology support services
* Release defect escape rate
* Portfolio ROI achievement vs. forecast
* IT Governance compliance score
Work Environment & Travel
This is a hybrid role, requiring typically 3 days per week in the Accrington office. Regular visits to franchise sites located across the UK will be necessary.
Fortidia Values
Customer Centricity • Accountability • Agility • Collaboration • Innovation
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £40,000.00-£50,000.00 per year
Additional pay:
* Bonus scheme
Benefits:
* Company pension
* On-site parking
* Work from home
Schedule:
* Monday to Friday
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Accrington BB5 5HY